From Miss Cheryl’s and Miss Ginger’s SNP Class
LAST WEEK IN OUR CLASS
Miss Ginger and I hope that everyone had a safe and restful Winter Break. We both did!
OUR FOCUS THIS WEEK
Our focus for the month of January will be our winter units. The focus for the next 2 week will be changes in the weather and how that affects many animals including animals that hibernate. We will begin the unit with Nancy Van Laan’s story “When Winter Comes”. This rhyming story invites the children to think about the questions the author poses concerning how the weather changes affect the animals and the landscape. As a family is walking through the woods surrounding their home they notice and explore the different changes in the environment including leaves that are still falling, ice on a pond, snow in the air and the changes in different animals. We will be hoping that our weather cooperates in order for the children to experience some winter changes. We will also explore the wind (using a fan), explore ice, play in the “big boxes” to hibernate like some of the animals mentioned in the story and even work on money and estimation concepts when we discuss how birds adjust during the winter months.
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
January 16- NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Holiday
January 20- HIBERNATION DAY (otherwise known as PAJAMA DAY) To celebrate the end of this unit we are going to have pajama day. Please allow your child to wear APPROPRIATE p.j.’s to school. They will need to wear their sneakers, however. We will have some hot chocolate, popcorn and watch a short movie from Scholastic Books. You child will even get to buy concessions similar to the time we watched a movie in Mrs. Meadow’s class.
Our vocabulary words include
hibernation cold winter wind blow snow cocoon tunnel deer field mouse petals pond fish
HOMEWORK:
- · Explore your yard, neighborhood or park looking for changes in plant life, animals, temperature. What are the birds doing? How do the plants look? Are there any seeds? Is there ice on the pond or lake?
- · Fingerplays
Here are the ones we will introduce this week.
Birds (fingerplay)
Up in the sky, the little birds fly. (flutter outstretched hands)
Down in their nests the little birds rest. (lower hands into lap)
With a wing on the left, and a wing on the right, (wave left hand, then right)
The dear little birdies sleep all night. (fold hands under cheek)
The Wind (fingerplay)
Listen to the wind (Cup hand to ear)
Hear it blow? (Make "whoosh" noise)
What makes the wind blow?
Do you know? (Point at child)
Fill a balloon up full of air (Cup one hand to lips, blow; with each breath separate hands, like blowing up a balloon)
Let the air out and (Take hand away from mouth)
Wind is there. (Bring hand in front as if feeling air leave the balloon)
Concept Poem--Frosty Weather
Frosty Weather
Snowy Weather
When the wind blows,
We all go together.
- Related Literature--- Bear Snores On; The First Snowfall- Anne Rockwell; A Little Bit of Winter- Paul Stewart; Snowtime- Dave Saunders; It’s Winter- Linda Glaser
Pre-Academic Activities for the Full Day Students
LETTER TIME-- Letter Review Jj -
Remember to continue to review the previous letters as we begin to progress. Don’t forget to use the chants I sent home as you practice writing. The children enjoy saying the chants or hearing you repeat the chants as they write in sand, rice or flour using their pointer finger and on an upright chalkboard with chalk or on an attached paper with a crayon on an upright board.
This week is a review of the letter Jj. I will emphasize the beginning sound found in words that begin with the “ Jj” sound. Vocabulary words will be sent home for you to practice with your child to reinforce the letter sound. Try to follow the activities and strategies listed below. Please keep in mind that each child has varying abilities. I will expose your child to the standards that are age appropriate but will adjust each lesson to their individual levels and needs.
IF your child is becoming frustrated when writing his/her first name in upper and lower case letters I have chants for the lower case letters that I can give you. Please email me if you need the chants!!
Thursday- Music( full day students)- On Thursdays we will be going to Music with a kindergarten class. I want to thank Mr. Savage for allowing us to participate in this activity as the students are only in preschool. Friday Media Center (full day students) —On Fridays we will visit the Media Center and check out one book. Please read this book with your child daily. The book needs to be returned by following Friday or your child will not be able to check out another book. Please help your child learn to respect the books he/she has brought home. Show them the proper way to handle the books and how to put them away. We practice this at school in our classroom library and they need to know the same respect and treatment of books applies at home also.
More activities for increasing letter awareness, letter sound awareness and handwriting-
Go on a treasure hunt around your house (inside and/or outside) to find items that begin with each letter sound. (Use the vocabulary words I have sent home to help you.)
ALWAYS practice writing their first names in upper and lower case letters—not just upper case (capital letters). At this age children only need to learn to write the upper case letters (except in the first names). They should learn to recognize both upper and lower case letters.
Practice writing the letters.
Look in books, magazines, etc. to find both the upper and lower case letter of the week. Always go from left to right as you do when you read. They can even use a highlighter to mark the letters they find. This is also a great review exercise for the previous letters we have learned. For those students who can recognize the letters this is a great way to start exposing them to words. Have them find and highlight the word that has the letter in it.
READ to your child. Read a variety of books to them. Ask questions about what you are reading- use “what” and “who” questions at first. Then move on to questions that require higher thinking- where, when, how and why. Talk about the pictures. Point to the words as you are reading. All of these things increase awareness which will help them learn to read
Handwriting Strategies to Use-
Using a shortened normal sized crayon or pencil will encourage the correct hand position when they are writing if this is needed for your child. The shortened length requires your child to have to hold the writing instrument using a more appropriate grasp. A crayon helps the writer increase pressure when writing. Pencils tend to slip easily and may not be the best instrument to use for beginning writers. Markers should not be used until they are established writers. Once your child is an established writer use regular length crayons and begin writing with pencils.
Writing on a slanted surface such a 3 inch binder helps to keep their hand and arm in the correct position if needed.
Writing with chalk on an upright easel encourages correct arm and hand position PLUS it increases the need to add pressure.
While they are writing say the chants I sent home with your child will help remember the correct way to form the letters
Have your child write while laying prone (flat) on his stomach. This is another way to reinforce the correct position for the arm and hand when writing.
Roll playdoh or other modeling clay into balls first and then snakes. Use the snakes to form the letters. Use a rectangle shape such as a picture frame with no glass as a guide to form the letters. ALWAYS form the letters starting from the top to bottom inside the rectangle shape using the edges as a guide.
Practice writing the letter shapes with their fingers on sandpaper; in rice, sand or flour; or hair setting gel in a sealed plastic bag.
Speech and Language- Miss Allison
Check out the Speech and Language page on the left side of this blog page.
Georgia Pre-K Content Standards Link
Here is a useful link to the Ga. Preschool/ Pre-K content standards. As special needs preschool educators our lessons are planned around these standards and the individual needs of each student. You may find information on this site helpful when you are working with your child at home and in your community. This site will help you as parents become familiar with the standards your child will need know or be exposed to during their preschool/pre-k years. The standards are set up according to your child’s chronological age. IF your child is older than 4 they will still be concentrating on the 4 year old standards. To access the standards click on the top address for the preschool standards or click on the bottom address for the Pre-K standards.
Preschool Standards http://decal.ga.gov/documents/attachments/GELSSection6.pdf
Pre-K Standards http://decal.ga.gov/documents/attachments/Content_Standards_Full.pdf
